Mowgli and Shanti's Choice
by Ryanthebrave
Summary: AU of JB 2 and follows elements of Kipling's Jungle Books. Having had enough of village life, Mowgli decides to run away back into the jungle and Shanti follows him. Now they must face not only Shere Khan, but all sorts of danger including the village hunter, Buldeo. Which life will the two man-cubs choose? Mowgli x Shanti. Rated M for naturism and violence (now).


Mowgli and Shanti's Choice

A Jungle Book AU Fanfiction

By Ryanthebrave

Disclaimer: I own nothing except some of the dialogue and well...you'll see, if you are fans of Kipling's original work.

Chapter One: Mowgli and Shanti Run Away

As Mowgli headed back to the hut where he lived with Ranjan and his family, he was exceedingly angry, hurt and betrayed by Shanti's ratting him out. All he wanted to do was show the children of the village the wonders of the jungle, but that green-eyed girl had to ruin everything and now he was going to be punished for just being who he was. Little did he realize was that walking by him was the one man in the village who distrusted him and the feeling was mutual.

His name was Buldeo, the local hunter and an elder of the village. Slightly built, dark eyed, blackish-grey bearded, clad in red robes and a white turban upon his head and brutally scarred on the left side of his face as if he had been attacked by a tiger or some other animal, this man had an unnatural dislike towards Mowgli. At Buldeo's side was his pet jackal Tabaqui, whom the hunter had tamed and used as his own 'hunting dog'. Though he was a half-starved, cowardly canine, Tabaqui was infamously vicious and Mowgli could understand what he was saying though Buldeo and most of the village could not.

"Looks like you're in big trouble now, Mowgli. And your days in the village are now numbered." Tabaqui laughed with an evil and hungry grin before he was pulled back on his leech by Buldeo as he whined.

"Leave him, Tabaqui. He's not who we're here to see." Buldeo scolded his 'dog' as he went over to Ranjan's father, whose name was Mohan. "Mohan, we need to talk."

Mohan simply sighed in annoyance, this was just what he needed now. "Yes, Buldeo? What seems to be the problem?" Mohan asked in annoyance, though he had a feeling as to what Buldeo wanted to talk about. "'What seems to be the problem?' Mohan, that _boy_ you adopted is the problem! Do you have any idea as to what he nearly just did?! He almost put the lives of our children in danger!" Buldeo exclaimed, much to Mowgli's concern as he listened in from behind one of the huts. He knew that Buldeo had hated him, but he would never willingly endanger the children of this village.

"Yes, I'm well aware of what he's done, Buldeo. But he's-." Mohan tried to explain to the hunter who cut him by saying, "He's been nothing but trouble ever since Shanti brought him into the village, Mohan. Do you not see what he's been doing to our village and our ways of life? He's filling the minds of the children with these ridiculous stories about the jungle, whilst at the same time he plans to lead them to their deaths! He refuses to work, he prefers to play like a little monkey, he has no discipline whatsoever, what do you think that implies?"

"Buldeo, he's just a child. You don't even know him!" Mohan said trying to reason with Buldeo who glared. "That's my point exactly, Mohan; none of us know anything about him! He's a danger to the children, to our village and our ways of life. You know the law that we live by. Mowgli nearly put the children's lives in danger, so he has to leave the village by morning. Unless of course you'd want the blood of our young on your hands, great leader?" Buldeo said making his point clear as Mohan cried out.

"Enough, Buldeo. What I do with Mowgli is my business, not yours! He's my responsibility, blood or no blood, and I will decide what his punishment should be. This conversation is closed and I don't want to hear another word about it, Buldeo!" Mohan said as Mowgli decided to sneak off, far away from the village while no one else was looking. Not even Shanti saw him disappear.

Just as Mohan headed back to his hut, he noticed that Mowgli was gone. Yet he shrugged, perhaps he had gone back to the hut, but Mohan could not believe the nerve of that hunter. Who did Buldeo think he was to suggest that Mowgli was a threat to the village and the children?

Buldeo simply sighed in disappointment and determination as he patted Tabaqui's head. "Well, Tabaqui, it seems there's no other way. I try to save this village from corruption and what does Mohan do instead of thank me? He dismisses my claims and defends that savage. I suppose the only way to restore peace in this place...is to deal with Mowgli quick before morning and-." Buldeo said before Messua screamed in terror.

"What in Brahma's name?" Buldeo asked in surprise as the entire village heard Messua's cries for help.

"Messua? What's going on?" Asked a random villager, before she cried out. "Mowgli's gone. I can't find him. I called and I called, but he isn't here. He never returned to the hut." Messua said with tears in her eyes. Mohan glared at Buldeo who looked innocent. "We have to find him. He could be anywhere in the village, or perhaps even-." Mohan said before Buldeo spoke.

"He made his choice, Mohan. He took his chance to run away and he did. I say good riddance, he never belonged here and he nearly endangered the children. We're better off without him and his corruption." Buldeo said while Shanti watched from another hut and she felt guilty as tears fell from her light-green eyes. She never meant to get Mowgli into so much trouble, she was just trying to keep him safe, for in her mind the jungle was a dangerous place.

She was in love with this jungle boy and had been for a while, and she had to go out and find him, and if possible bring him back. So she ran off, while no one else was looking, beyond the fence to find Mowgli, even if she had to go deep into the feared jungle to do so. She was tired of having limited rights in the village just because she was a girl.

As for Mowgli, he ran deep into the jungle with tears in his eyes and ripped off his hated-loincloth. He had hated wearing that thing from the moment he came into the village, the moment he met Shanti when she was fetching water...the moment...he fell in love with her. Part of him regretted leaving the man-village, the other part of him was saying he never belonged there. Most of the village thought that he was crazy or even feared him because he had come from the jungle. But Buldeo hated him the most, not just for calling him out as a liar and an overzealous hunter but also because of how greedy and arrogant he was.

However, Shanti was on his mind. Although he was angry at her for ratting on him, he still was in love with her. He just wanted to show her how beautiful and wonderful the jungle could be. "Oh man...why does everything have to be so complicated? Well, Mowgli...I guess you've wanted to come home and here I am." Mowgli said to himself as he felt relieved to be out of that loincloth. Just as he was about to head deeper into the jungle, he heard a voice.

"Mowgli? Mowgli?" Shanti's voice called out, much to Mowgli's surprise as he turned around to see Shanti coming towards him. "Shanti, what are you doing here?" He asked in a surprised, yet angry tone of voice.

"Mowgli, I'm sorry that I-." Shanti said trying to apologize before she saw that Mowgli was completely naked like the first time that they had met and tried to look away. "You're naked. You are so naked."

Mowgli grinned reminiscing about the day they met. "Sure am, Shanti. Just like the first time that we met, huh? When you were fetching water, washing your clothes...you were also singing..."

Shanti simply giggled as she remembered that day. "Yeah, I remember that day fondly. How we stared at each other, how naked we both were...and how...after I led you into the village...we shared a kiss..." Shanti said blushing heavily as she opened her eyes.

"Yeah...and how we spent my first few weeks in the village all naked...while you taught me how to talk like a human..." Mowgli said blushing as Shanti put a hand on his shoulder. "Mowgli...I'm really sorry for getting you in trouble. It seems that...I was trying too hard to turn you into something that you weren't. I want to know...do you want to come back to the village or not?" Shanti asked.

This was a tough decision, he did not want to leave her nor did he want to leave the home that he grew up in either. Then he gave an answer. "No, Shanti. I can't go back. You heard Buldeo, I don't belong there and...I'll never know what it's like to be a real human being. The jungle is my home and I want to stay here...where I belong."

Hearing his answer, Shanti swallowed her pride and began to undo her earrings, much to Mowgli's surprise. Once she was done, she untied her ponytail letting her hair fall past her shoulders. "Shanti, what are you doing?" Mowgli asked in surprise. "What do you think I'm doing, Mowgli? Joining you." Shanti said with a smirk as she removed all her clothing starting with her shirt and then her skirt. Once she was done, Shanti was now as naked as the boy she was in love with.

"But I thought you were afraid of the jungle, Shanti?" Mowgli asked in confusion as Shanti stood in all her naked glory in front of him. "I am. But if it means being with you, it will be worth it. I'm tired of being told what I can do and what I can't do, just because I'm a girl. I want to live my life...to be like you, Mowgli, even if it means living dangerously. Because I love you. I have ever since we met." Shanti said as she leaned towards his face.

"Shanti...I...I love you, too. I also have loved you since the day we met and before I knew what love was." Mowgli said as he leaned towards her face and kissed her lips.

For Mowgli it felt good to kiss Shanti again after all this time and for Shanti it was uplifting to know that Mowgli loved her the same way that she loved him. She was sacrificing so much to be with him, and she wanted to live her life with him, even if it meant betraying the village and its outdated ways of life.

Once they broke their kiss, the two naked children smiled at each other and they started to head into the jungle together. They were definitely like Adam and Eve in this new home of theirs. Little did they know was that they were being tracked by Tabaqui himself at his master's beckoning as the jackal sniffed their footprints. "Ooh, you two man-cubs are gonna be in so much trouble when I find you." Tabaqui said before a loud roar was heard, much to the jackal's surprise as he turned around and saw to his shock a familiar tiger with a limping right foreleg and a nasty facial burn on his left side.

"Man-cubs you say? I see that you're on the hunt for the man-cub known as Mowgli, aren't you? I've already laid claim to him, my jackal friend, and I will not tolerate competition." Said the tiger, Shere Khan in a vicious, bloodthirsty voice, as though ready to kill Tabaqui with one swipe.

"Wait...uh...Shere Khan, right? I've heard about you...from Mowgli's stories...you're...mightier and more powerful than I thought." Tabaqui said in a flattering tone of voice, much to the tiger's surprise and pride. "Ah so you have heard of me, my friend. I am flattered, but I don't seem to remember smelling you in the jungle before. Now tell me who you are and where you come from, before I decide to kill you for wasting my time, man's pet." Shere Khan warned as he stretched out his lame right foreleg at Tabaqui's throat.

The jackal gulped in terror as he stammered, "T-T-T-Tabaqui, sir. My name is Tabaqui and yes, I am a man's pet, but I'm still a wild animal and an animal of this jungle." This gave Shere Khan some satisfaction as he lowered his lame foreleg and grinned as he looked at Tabaqui. "And from the look of things, Tabaqui, it seems that your human pet has not done a good job of feeding you, has he?" The tiger asked with a sadistic grin.

"You're right...Shere Khan, he hasn't. And if anything I'd give a lot to share in your kills, if I helped you track down Mowgli. I know that he's here in the jungle and he's not alone." Tabaqui said with a nervous tone of voice as the lame tiger smirked. "It seems that we have a deal, Tabaqui...but if I discover that you've been lying to me, I shall see to it personally that you regret it. Now come." Shere Khan said with a roar as he urged Tabaqui onwards with him.

"Very soon, Mowgli. I will find you and when I do, I will see to it that you died alongside your parents." Shere Khan said to himself, his revenge and long-awaited meal was coming soon for him,.


End file.
